Method and apparatus for transceiving data packet for transmitting and receiving multimedia data

ABSTRACT

A method for transmitting complex multimedia data is provided. The method includes selecting one of a data headers composed of basic transmission units determined according to an amount of multimedia included in the complex multimedia data, generating a basic transmission unit of the complex multimedia data according to the selected data header, packetizing the complex multimedia data in the basic transmission unit; and transmitting the packetized complex multimedia data to a receiver.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 14/051,863, filed on Oct. 11, 2013, which has issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,742,826 on Aug. 22, 2017 and claimed the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Oct. 12, 2012 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No.10-2012-0113543, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for generatinga data packet for transmitting and receiving complex multimedia data ina multimedia system.

BACKGROUND

In recent multimedia services, MPEG Media Transport (MMT) is beingconsidered for a hybrid network, in which a broadcast network and acommunication network are simultaneously connected, and complexmultimedia data, in which multimedia data, applications, and files areprovided together.

MMT is a multimedia transport standard based on Moving Picture ExpertsGroup (MPEG). MMT may be used for broadcast and multimedia services suchas multi-functional smart TV, multi-view TV, N-screen, and the like,instead of using MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS), and provide efficientMPEG transport in multimedia service environments varied based on anInternet Protocol (IP).

In addition, due to the increasing consumption of multimedia data andtechnological development, the foregoing complex multimedia datacontaining various kinds of multimedia content, such as multimedia data,applications, and files, have been introduced.

The complex multimedia data contain various kinds of multimedia content(‘complex multimedia content’). At the time of transmission of thecomplex multimedia data, the complex multimedia data are fragmented oraggregated for respective content, which are then transmitted through anintegrated transmission network.

For example, complex multimedia data containing applications for video,audio, and widgets are organized into data packets in consideration ofcharacteristics, such as a video signal transmission method, an audiosignal transmission method, and a file transmission method, and thentransmitted. The transmitted data packets are reorganized to the complexmultimedia data at the receiving terminal.

However, when complex multimedia data are transmitted in the currenthybrid network environment, efficient services suitable for the hybridnetwork environment are difficult to provide.

Therefore, in order to provide efficient services suitable for thehybrid network environment, the configuration of complex multimedia datapackets according to multimedia data characteristics requires acorresponding multimedia content to be composed and decomposed.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide a method and an apparatus for transceiving adata packet for transmitting and receiving complex multimedia data in amultimedia system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and anapparatus for configuring a data packet by defining structures of a MPEGMedia Transport (MMT) packet header and an MMT payload and the use offragmentation and aggregation of an MMT packet.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method fortransmitting complex multimedia data is provided. The method includesselecting one of data headers composed of basic transmission unitsdetermined according to an amount of multimedia included in the complexmultimedia data, generating a basic transmission unit of the complexmultimedia data according to the selected data header, packetizing thecomplex multimedia data in the basic transmission unit, and transmittingthe packetized complex multimedia data to a receiver.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anapparatus for transmitting complex multimedia data is provided. Theapparatus includes a controller configured to select a data headerscomposed of basic transmission units determined according to an amountof multimedia included in the complex multimedia data, a data packetgenerator configured to generate a basic transmission unit of thecomplex multimedia data according to the selected data header, and atransmitter configured to packetize the complex multimedia data in thebasic transmission unit on the instruction of the controller and totransmit the packetized complex multimedia data to a receiver.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor receiving complex multimedia data is provided. The method includesreceiving a basic transmission unit generated by a data headers composedof basic transmission unit determined according to the number ofmultimedia organizing the complex multimedia data, confirming a headerof the basic transmission unit, and receiving the complex multimediadata packetized in the basic transmission unit according to theconfirmed header.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anapparatus for receiving complex multimedia data is provided. Theapparatus includes a receiver configured to receive a basic transmissionunit generated by data headers composed of basic transmission unitdetermined according to the number of multimedia organizing the complexmultimedia data, a header detector configured to confirm a data headerof the received the basic transmission unit, and a controller configuredto control the receiver to receive the complex multimedia datapacketized in the basic transmission unit according to the confirmedheader.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, in order toconfigure a data packet for transmitting complex multimedia data, aconcrete structure of the data packet is generated according to thecomplex multimedia content, and the data packet is transmitted andreceived, so that efficient services suitable for a hybrid networkenvironment can be provided at the time of transmission of the complexmultimedia data.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an E layer processing complexmultimedia data for transmission according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an apparatus for transmitting a datapacket for transmitting complex multimedia data according to anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an apparatus for receiving a datapacket for transmitting complex multimedia data according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functionsand constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for thepurpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

Concerning the designations of reference numerals, the same referencenumerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate thesame or similar components. Also, when it is considered that detaileddescriptions of related known functions or constitutions may obscure thegist of the present disclosure, such detailed descriptions are omitted.Terms described later are defined in consideration of the functions ofthe present disclosure, but may vary according to the intention orconvention of a user or operator. According, the definition will be madebased on the overall contents of this specification.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed based on Motion Picture Experts Group Media Transport (MPEGMedia Transport, hereinafter, referred to as ‘MMT’), which is onetechnology to which the present disclosure is applicable. However, itshould be noted that this embodiment is illustrated only for convenienceof explanation and the present disclosure does not be applied to onlyMMT.

The fundamental concept of the present disclosure will be brieflypresented.

A hybrid network environment in the present disclosure refers to anenvironment having a connection structure between a server and a clientwhere a dedicated network for broadcasting (hereinafter, referred to as‘broadcast network’) and a network for Internet communication(hereinafter, referred to as ‘broadband network’) may be simultaneouslyprovided to the same client and the client may receive services througha plurality of networks. A plurality of network environments may beconfigured by connecting the broadcast network and the broadbandnetwork, or by including a wired or wireless network.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an E layer processing complex mediacontents in MPEG MMT according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, an E layer includes three sub-layers. The threesub-layers correspond to a multimedia codec (A) 100, a multimedia codec(B) 101, and an MMT E.3 layer 102. The multimedia codec (A) 100 and themultimedia codec (B) 101 have functional differences.

For example, an output of an H. 264 codec corresponds to a NetworkAdaptation Layer (NAL) unit for providing multimedia characteristicinformation, signaling information for decoding, and the like, togetherwith compressed digital video multimedia data. In another example, anoutput of an H. 262 codec output is applied to only the compresseddigital video multimedia data. The H. 264 codec may be used as themultimedia codec (B) 101, and the H. 262 codec may be used as themultimedia codec (A) 100. However, in some cases, the H. 264 codec maybe also the multimedia codec (A) 100. In this case, the output of the H.264 codec may further include information generated in the MMT E. 3layer 102.

The MMT E.3 layer 102 generates a Media Fragment Unit (MFU) by inputtingvarious kinds of multimedia as sources. The MFU has a function similarto that of the above-described NAL unit, and includes information onpriority and dependency counter in the range of a data transmissionunit, which may be used to configure a transport packet. However, theMFU is different from the NAL unit in that the MFU can have all kinds ofmultimedia sources, such as a video signal, an audio signal, a textsignal, an application, and a web page, in a payload. Functions of theMMT E.3 layer 102 are described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The MMT E.2 layer 103 aggregates various kinds of MFUs transferred froma single multimedia source to configure a Media Processing Unit (MPU).The MMT E.2 layer 103 generates an MMT asset in which the MPUs areconfigured as one stream. Last, the MMT E.1 layer 104 configures an MMTpackage, which can be serviced to a user, by using several MMT assets.

The transmitting apparatus of the present disclosure performspacketization in which the foregoing MPUs and MFUs are configured as abasic transmission unit for transmission of complex multimedia data, andthen transmits the packetized data to the receiving apparatus. The MPUis configured by MFUs, each of which is a minimum consumable unit. Whenthe MPU can be independently configured, the MPU is configured such thatthe MPU can be consumed by and transmitted to a user in the type ofbundles in units of spatial section. In addition, the MFUs may bevariably configured in one MPU according to the transmissionenvironment, considering transmission efficiency.

Hereinafter, a ‘packet header configuring step’ for packet configurationand a ‘packet payload configuring step’ for packet payloadconfiguration, which are included in a step for transmitting complexmultimedia data in the transmitting apparatus of the present disclosure,will be separately described.

An MMT payload of an MMT packet may include a payload header regionincluding configuration information used according to the transmissionenvironment and a data region including transmission data. In addition,the MMT payload may be included in an MMT packet operating inTransmission Control Protocol (TCP)/User Datagram Protocol (UDP)environments corresponding to Internet Protocol (IP) based environmentsor a payload of a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), which is an IP,and then transmitted to a terminal.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the headerregion of the MMT payload, which may be universally configured fortransmission of complex multimedia data in a hybrid network environment,may be configured as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Bit Offset 0-7 8-15 16-23 24-31 0 Length Type FI (2), Flags 32Data Offset/ Fragmentation Information reserved 64 AggregationInformation 96 Options (Optional) 128 Data

Respective fields included in Table 1 are explained as follows.

1) Length Field:

The length field indicates a length of the payload (Data), and isexpressed in a total of 16 bits. The size of data padded afterpacketization is calculated through the length field, so that datanecessary for actual calculation may be separately processed. Inaddition, when Forward Error Correction (FEC) is applied, the positionof predetermined-sized FEC Identifier (ID) information for FEC decodingmay be calculated.

2) Type Field:

The type field indicates a type of the payload (i.e., a data type of thecorresponding payload), and may be delivered together with an MMTdelivery unit. The type field is expressed in 8 bits, and, for example,indicates data types as shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Type Data configuration type information MFU It indicates thatdata of payload can configure MFU. MPU It indicates that data of payloadcan configure MFU. Signaling It indicates that data of payload canconfigure message signaling message. Parity data It indicates that dataof payload can organize data necessary for processing parity data of FECor Automatic ReQuest retransmission (ARQ) data. User defined Itindicates that data of payload can organize other data types of data.3) Fragmentation Indicator (FI) Field:

The FI field is expressed in 2 bits. When transmitted data of the sametype is fragmented into partial data fragments having a basic unit size,complete data of the basic unit can be configured through thecorresponding information. The FI field indicates that, of the partialdata fragments obtained by fragmenting data of the same type into basicunits, corresponding partial data fragments correspond to a start, acenter, and an end of the data. For example, when the data type of thecorresponding payload is MPU, the receiving apparatus uses the FI fieldfor the bundle unit of processing the MPU. One complete MPU can bereceived by obtaining an FI field indicating, of partial data fragmentshaving a basic unit size into which the MPU is fragmented, partial datafragments corresponding to a start, a center, and an end of the data.Accordingly, when the receiving apparatus receives partial datafragments corresponding to a start, a center, and an end of the MPUwithout data loss, the terminal can configure a complete MPU to proceedwith a decoding process. For example, in the case of transmitting a livestream or a non-live stream such as Video on Demand (VoD), the payloadfor transmission may be configured by a single or a plurality of MFUs orMPUs, which may be also fragmented into partial data fragmentscorresponding to predetermined ranges of sections through thecorresponding field, and then transmitted. In addition, in the case offile transmission, the overall file may be transmitted by beingrecognized as one MPU, or the overall file may be fragmented intopartial files corresponding to predetermined ranges of sections and someof the fragmented files may be transmitted. For achieving this, chainedpayloads may be indicated through such information, and a function ofconfiguring the payload in units of MFUs or MPUs can be provided througha corresponding information configuration. A plurality of MPUs or MFUs,signaling messages, and parity data, of the same type, can betransmitted in one payload.

4) Flags Field:

The flags field indicates flag switch information representingconfiguration information of the corresponding payload, and is expressedin 6 bits. For example, in configuring the corresponding payload, thefragmentation flag bit is set to “1” when fragmentation information istransmitted. The receiving apparatus confirms the fragmentation flag bitset to “1” to be accessible to header information of the correspondingpayload, which corresponds to the Flags field. The flags field furtherincludes an ‘aggregation information flag’, a ‘random access point flag’and an ‘options flag’ besides the ‘fragmentation flag’. Referring toTable 3 below, the flags commonly indicate that if a flag bit is set to“0”, information corresponding to the corresponding flag is absent, andif a flag bit is set to “1”, information corresponding to thecorresponding flag is set.

TABLE 3 Flag Description Fragmentation If the flag bit is set to “1”, itindicates that information information of the fragmentation informationflag field is set. Aggregation If the flag bit is set to “1”, itindicates that information information of the aggregation informationflag field is set. Random access If the flag bit is set to “1”, itindicates that point flag data of the corresponding payload include dataused in the random access point. For example, if the signaling messagecontaining service configuration information includes data indicating astart point of operation processing or a start point of independentlyprocessable data, the corresponding flag is set. Options If the flag bitis set to “1”, it indicates that flag information of the options fieldis set.5) Data Offset Field:

The data offset field includes information variably showing a value of astart position of actual data of the payload, and is expressed in 8bits. The receiving apparatus is accessible to the start position ofactual data by using a value of the data offset field.

6) Fragmentation Information Field:

The fragmentation information field is configured by numbers. When atransmission unit of data is fragmented into several payloads of thesame type and then transmitted, corresponding numbers are used as serialnumbers of corresponding fragmented payloads. For example, when the MPU,which is one of the transmission units, is fragmented into five payloadsand then transmitted, the fragmentation information field is set to 0-4for the respective payloads. The receiving apparatus may receive onecomplete MPU by obtaining the numbers indicated by the fragmentationinformation field. In addition, the receiving apparatus may use thenumbers obtained through the fragmentation information field todetermine how many payloads are not yet received. The receivingapparatus may also use the numbers obtained through the fragmentationinformation field to recognize lost payloads and request a transmitterto retransmit some data corresponding to the lost payloads.

7) Aggregation Information Field:

The aggregation information field indicates that the transmission dataincluded in the corresponding payload is the aggregation of severalunits of data of the same type. For example, the aggregation informationfield may indicate a case where plural MPUs configure one payload. Inaddition, the aggregation information field may be configured by anumber and Offset values.

The number represents the number of data of the same type, which areincluded in one payload, and the offset values represent start positionsof respective data. For example, when three independently configurableMPUs are included in one payload, a corresponding number is 3. Inaddition, the offset values corresponding to additional informationrepresent start points of the respective data included in the payload.The aggregation information field may be assumed to represent offsetvalues for two of three MPUs. The offset value of a first data may beaccessed through the data offset value of the payload header, and theoffset values of the other two data may be accessed through the offsetvalues of the corresponding information.

8) Options Field:

The options field is configured when the corresponding payload containsadditional information. The payload should be efficiently configured inconsideration of various transmission environments and services. Theoptions field may be configured to be divided into informationapplicable to all payloads and information applicable to only particularpayloads. In addition, a very small configuration may be generallyneeded for the particular payloads. The present disclosure may requireparticular modes defined for particular uses in order to allow a simplepayload configuration, except for dedicated receivers.

For example, in addition to a generic mode usable to transmit MMTcontent, an MMT stream mode and a file delivery mode may be considered.An auxiliary field may also be configured to transmit any data in orderto predict the need for transmission of information associated with anyadditive system in the future. The auxiliary field may include afunction providing identifier which may provide a function for a losscontrol, loss reconstruction encoding information, information forrequesting an automatic error loss reconstruction, a minimum memorybuffer size provided by a terminal, a temporary memory buffer size usedin transmission data, critical transmission data, a maximum lossacceptance rate, a maximum acceptance packet delay time, an averagepacket delay time, synchronization code information for a networksynchronization, and the like.

The MMT payload according to an embodiment of the present disclosure maybe transmitted by the MMT packet or the RTP packet, which is an InternetProtocol. The MMT packet has a data packet structure for transmission ofthe MMT payload, and the corresponding data is packetized, that is,fragmented by using a payload as a base unit, and then transmitted to anetwork. In addition, the MMT transport packet according an embodimentof the present disclosure may include additional information associatedwith transmission of the header region. For example, the additionalinformation may include a packet ID, a packet number, a flow ID forproviding Quality of Service (QoS), and a timestamp applicable for thetransmission time and control information.

Specific examples of the foregoing additional information may berepresented as shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Bit Offset 0-7 8-15 16-23 24-31 0 Packet_id Sequence number 32Sequence Number Timestamp 64 Timestamp Flags/length Packet Classidentifier 96 QoS Classifier Flow identifier Extension header fields1) Packet ID Field:

The packet ID indicates an identifier of the MMT transport packet, whichis set to a constant value, and is represented in 16 bits. The packet IDis set as identification values of MPUs and MFUs, which are constituentsof the payload, which is the basic transmission unit, an identificationvalue for differentiating the MMT payload from an Asset, which is ahigher configuration unit, an identification value for differentiatingthe MMT payload from MMT signaling, an identification value foridentifying FEC parity data, and an identification value fordifferentiating user defined data. In addition, a packet level of packetmultiplexing function may be provided through the correspondingidentification function.

2) Sequence Number Field:

The sequence number field indicates a sequence number, which is a uniqueidentification number of the transmitted MMT packet, and is representedin 32 bits. The receiving apparatus may confirm the sequence number todetermine whether the corresponding packet is lost, and may perform apacket arrangement function according to the corresponding sequencenumber. Furthermore, the sequence number in the sequence number fieldmay be sequentially increased by the respective MMT packets or assets,and globally exhibit a unique value in a predetermined range of sectionin the network session. The sequence number field may indicate asequence number of the overall MMT packet.

3) Timestamp Field:

The timestamp field is used to confirm the time point of generation ofthe transport packet. The time value included in the timestamp field isset to a value calculated based on a value set in the Internet networkprotocol. The receiving apparatus confirms the time value, and thenutilizes the time value to calculate the transmission time differencebetween packets and the packet transmission delay time between thetransmitter and the receiver.

4) Flags Field:

The flags field is configured by flag information indicating that thereis additional header information of the corresponding packet. The flagsinformation generally indicates that corresponding information is absentwhen the “0” bit is set, and corresponding information is set when the“1” bit is set. The additional header information includes informationsuch as a ‘packet class identifier flag’, a ‘QoS classifier flag’, a‘flow identifier flag’, and the like. When the network middle deviceconfirms the information, for example, the network middle deviceutilizes the information in transport of the packet for providing theQoS service. As another example, the network middle device may utilizethe corresponding information in ‘report packet discard’, ‘packettransport scheduling setting’, or ‘packet reconfiguration information’.

5) Length Field:

The length field indicates a length of the additional headerinformation.

6) Packet Class Identifier Field:

The packet class identifier field is configured by informationindicating attributes of the corresponding packet. The informationindicating the attributes of the packet is packet information used inunicast, unidirectional, bidirectional, and interactive services. Thismay indicate whether the packet is real-time or non-real-time data. Theinformation indicating the attributes of the packet includes informationon the service type the packet and configuration information on the bitrate of the packet. The service type is divided into real-time,non-real-time, broadcast, video call, and hybrid services, and the bitrate of the packet may be set as shown in Table 5 below.

TABLE 5 Bits 0-2 Bit rate 111 Constant Bit Rate (CBR) 110 Real-TimeVariable Bit Rate (rt-VBR) 101 Non-Real-Time Variable Bit Rate (nrt-VBR)100 Available Bit Rate (ABR) 011 Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR)7) QoS Classifier Field:

The QoS Classifier field is configured by information indicating theloss priority and the delay allowance of the corresponding packet. Thecorresponding information includes ‘loss priority’ and ‘delayallowance’. The ‘loss priority’ is the priority of the correspondingpacket, and indicates the priority of loss within a predetermined rangeof section. The priority is represented by a number, and the highernumber represents the more important packet. In addition, the priorityis used to determine the process priority and the packet loss in thepacket transport in the middle network device. The ‘delay allowance’information is expressed by a level according to a delay range section,and the corresponding information is also utilized for time informationfor processing in the packet transport in the middle network apparatus.

8) Flow Identifier Field:

The flow identifier field includes a flow label identifying theparticular QoS required in each flow needed for each data transmission.The flow label includes, for example, a type of packet, a delay, athroughput, a synchronization parameter, and the like. The flow labelmay be subdivided according to the type of data transmission. Thecorresponding flow label may set a corresponding value thereof throughexchange of cross-reference data between the transmitter and thereceiver, before the service is started. In some cases, the crossreference exchange data may be utilized as setting information of themiddle network apparatus.

9) Extension Header Fields:

The extension header field, when a predetermined unit of data is storedand utilized in the middle network device, may contain and providenecessary additional information.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing one example of an apparatus fortransmitting a data packet for transmitting complex multimedia dataaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a transmitting apparatus 200 includes a transceiver205, a data packet generator 210, and a controller 215.

The controller 215 controls the data packet generator 210 to performpacketization in which MPUs and MFUs are configured as a basictransmission unit for transmission of complex multimedia data, and thentransmit the corresponding packets to a receiving apparatus. The datapacket generator 210 configures the MPU by using MFUs, which areconsumable minimum units. In addition, when the MPU can be independentlyconfigured, the data packet generator 210 configures the MPU to beconsumed by and transmitted to a user in the type of bundles in units ofspatial section. The MFUs may also be variably configured in one MPUaccording to the transmission environment, considering transmissionefficiency. The data packet generator 210 may configure an MMT packetpayload by a header region configured as shown in Table 1 above, and adata region, during configuring of the MMT packet. Descriptions ofdetailed components of the respective regions will be omitted due tooverlapping with the foregoing descriptions.

The data packet generator 210 selects a predetermined MFU header formataccording to the amount of multimedia organizing complex multimediadata, and generates an MFU of the complex multimedia data according tothe selected header format. The transceiver 205, under the instructionof the controller 215, packetizes the complex multimedia data, andtransmits the packetized complex multimedia data to a receiver.

The controller 215 determines whether the amount of multimedia issmaller than a first critical value, and then selects a first MFU headerif the amount of multimedia is smaller than the first critical value.The first MFU header may include, for example, a start flag field of apre-arranged type indicating that the MFU is started, an MFU type fieldindicating the media type included in the MFU, and a last flag fieldindicating whether the MFU is a first MFU (start) or a last MFU (end) orthe MFU continues (Conti).

The controller 215 determines whether the amount of multimediasatisfying a predetermined standard among the multimedia is not smallerthan a second critical value if the amount of multimedia is not smallerthan the first critical value. The controller 215 selects a second MFUheader if the amount of multimedia satisfying the predetermined standardis smaller than the second critical value. The second MFU header mayinclude, for example, the start flag field, the MFU type field, and thelast flag field. The length of the MFU type field of the second MFUheader may be assumed to be longer than the length of the MFU type fieldof the first MFU header.

The controller 215 selects a third MFU header if the amount ofmultimedia satisfying the predetermined standard is not smaller than thesecond critical value. The third MFU header may include, for example,the start flag field, the MFU type field, the last flag field, and anMFU type extension field. The MFU type extension field is combined withan MFU type field of the third MFU header to indicate the media typeincluded in the MFU. The last flag field indicates that the MFU typeextension field is present.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing one example of an apparatus forreceiving a data packet for transmitting complex multimedia dataaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, a receiving apparatus 300 includes a transceiver305, a header detector 310, and a controller 315.

The transceiver 305 receives the MFU generated by one of predeterminedheader formats, which is selected according to the amount of multimediaorganizing complex multimedia data. The header detector 310 confirms aheader of the MFU. The controller 315 controls the transceiver 350 toreceive the complex multimedia data packetized in the basic transmissionunit, according to the identified header.

The header detector 310 confirms a start flag included in the header toconfirm a start position of the MFU, confirms the MFU type fieldincluded in the header, and confirms a last flag included in the headerto confirm whether the last flag indicates that the header includes anMFU type extension field. The header detector 310 combines the MFU typefield and the MFU type extension field to confirm the multimedia datatype included in the MFU if the last flag indicates that the headerincludes the MFU type extension field. The header detector 310 confirmsthe multimedia data type included in the MFU according to the MFU typefield if the last flag does not indicate that the header includes theMFU type extension field.

The transmission data according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be fragmented into a single payload or payloadscorresponding to a base unit according to the transmission environment,and then transmitted as a plurality of payloads. The payloads may berespectively packetized into packets and then transmitted.Alternatively, the packets may be multiplexed and transmitted through acomplex network channel.

Further, a predetermined unit of an interleaving function may beprovided in consideration of a particular transmission function, andhere, the payload can be defined to be considerably efficient and simpleas a general unit structure which is possible in a transmission layer.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for receiving a data packet by areceiving apparatus, the method comprising: receiving, by the receivingapparatus, a data packet including a packet header and a packet payload,wherein the packet payload includes a payload header and a fragment of adata unit or at least one complete data unit, and the payload headerincludes fragmentation information and a fragment indicator, wherein thefragmentation information includes information about a number of atleast one packet payload including at least one fragment of the dataunit succeeding the packet payload, wherein the fragment indicatorincludes one of a first value indicating that the packet payloadincludes a first fragment of the data unit, a second value indicatingthat the packet payload includes a fragment of the data unit that isneither the first fragment nor a last fragment of the data unit, and athird value indicating that the packet payload includes the lastfragment of the data unit, wherein the packet header including a packetidentifier, a sequence number, and a timestamp, wherein the packetidentifier includes information to identify an asset related to the datapacket, wherein the sequence number includes information to identify atleast one data packet that has the packet identifier, and wherein thetimestamp includes time information for the data packet.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the payload header includes type informationindicating a data type of the fragment, and the data type includes amedia fragment unit (MFU).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the payloadheader includes aggregation information indicating whether the at leastone complete data unit is included in the packet payload.